Farmers hit by Wellgrain merchant administration

Cambridgeshire-based merchant Wellgrain went into administration on 2 March.

Matthew Richards and Daniel Smith of Grant Thornton were appointed administrators to the company, which includes many farmers among its creditors.

No further information was available as Farmers Weekly posted this story. We will continue to press for more detail.

Wellgrain was established by Douglas Spinney in 2003.

Its most recent accounts made up to 30 June 2015 show a turnover of almost £86m, a profit before tax on ordinary activities of £214,896 and net assets of £2.7m.

At that time it had about 30 employees.

See also: BPS 2017 – how to apply

The company’s next annual accounts are due to be filed by 30 March.

Wellgrain is wholly owned by and makes up the vast majority of the turnover of its parent company, Driftwell Investments, which is not in administration and continues to trade as a standalone business.

Driftwell had a turnover of £93.154m in the year to 30 June 2015, for which the accounts show the company was 86% owned by Mr Spinney and his wife.

NFU acting senior legal adviser Lucy Ralph said the union was working to provide guidance to members affected by the Wellgrain administration and members should contact NFU Callfirst (0370 845 8458) as soon as possible.

Has the Wellgrain administration affected your business? Get in touch with Farmers Weekly, email suzie.horne@rbi.co.uk or call 0208 652 4923